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STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA
Blu-ray Edition
Review by Michael Jacobson
Stars:
Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Peter Mayhew,
David Prowse, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Billy Dee Williams, Frank Oz, Liam
Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, voice
of James Earl Jones
Directors: George Lucas, Irvin
Kershner, Richard Marquand
Audio: DTS HD 6.1
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Features: See Review
Lengths: 805 Minutes
Release Date: September 19, 2011
A
long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Overview:
In
the summer of 1977, a new phenomenon took over the culture of the world, and
it’s never really released its grip. It
was a science fiction fantasy with an evil empire, brave rebels, a princess, a
farm boy, a space pirate, and the most dysfunctional father-son relationship
since Abraham tried to sacrifice Isaac. It
was called Star Wars, and unless you were a hermit in a cave, you
couldn’t escape it. It was in
movie theatres, in record shops, in toy stores, on T-shirts and lunchboxes and
just about any other inanimate object imaginable.
In fact, I take it back…I could have sworn I saw that hermit wearing a
shirt with Darth Vader’s image on it and sporting the caption, “Who’s your
daddy?”
It
was a great year to be an eight year old boy and starting my third grade year
fully equipped with my favorite Star Wars characters all over my folders,
notebooks and Thermos bottle. It
was fun to collect the action figures and wage my own battles against the Empire
after classes and on weekends, or re-enacting my favorite scenes with my friends
while shooting those rather insipid official Star Wars laser pistols that
made goofy noises and didn’t do much else.
It was a year when “Hey, how’s it going?” was replaced by “May
the Force be with you.”
It
was the film that turned a mild mannered young moviemaker from California into
the master of an empire of his own. George
Lucas had earned acclaim for his work on THX 1138 and American
Graffiti, but with Star Wars, he attained a new level of success and
a cult status few artists have ever matched.
His
fans ate it up, and they wanted seconds…and fortunately for us, Lucas had
always intended to craft a full trilogy to bring his characters and story full
circles. The only thing in my youth
that could have compared to the event of Star Wars was the 1980 release
of The Empire Strikes Back, in which Lucas’ original vision stretched
further and filled even more of our cultural expanse. A new mythology was being created, and we were all getting
indoctrinated.
He
rounded out his original concept in 1983 with Return of the Jedi, but he
always spoke of a trilogy of trilogies. The
first movie had been intriguingly subtitled Episode IV, meaning we
hadn’t come in at the beginning of the story, but arrived at one already in
progress. Lucas had hoped to
eventually give the world Episodes I-III and Episodes VII-IX.
The former reached it's conclusion, and the prequel trilogy is
included in this set. The latter was summarily abandoned by its creator.
But
there was always something special and unflappable about that original trilogy.
The greatly hyped new films of recent years have satisfied, but the
experiences of the first ones can’t quite be replicated.
Those of us who were kids at the time have looked back fondly for decades
now and realized it was really a special time to be boys or girls and have our
imaginations opened by what was nothing short of a quantum leap forward in
cinema history.
Now,
after years and years of VHS and Beta tapes and laserdiscs, the complete saga
has made Blu-ray. That’s the good
news. The not-so-good news is that
they’re not quite the movies we remembered from our youths.
Everything we loved about them is still there, but Lucas has never
reached a plateau of satisfaction with those films.
In 1997 he re-issued them for theatres with restored picture and sound,
updated special effects, and even some new footage.
But now, these DVDs have been tinkered with even further.
You’ll notice differences; some subtle, like cleaned-up lightsabers or
a better Jabba in Episode IV, some not-so-subtle, like the fact that Ian
McDiarmid now plays the Emperor in Empire and Hayden Christensen is the
ghost of Anakin in Jedi.
Are
they necessary changes that enhance the experience, or are they artistic
blasphemies akin to rewriting the Bible? That’s
a question that I believe will be kicked around for many years to come, and may
even pass from generation to generation. For
my own part, I wish Lucas had opted to release both the original, untouched
trilogy AND his new revamped ones on Blu-ray at the same time.
I would have bought both…and I bet I wouldn’t have been alone.
But,
as my wife always reminds me when I gripe and grumble, sometimes the glass IS
half full. I’m very happy to
finally own the full set, especially considering they’ve never looked or
sounded so good on home video before. Spotting
the changes added a bit of fun and made it a little like seeing the movies for
the first time all over again. Yes…life
is good.
Writing
about the individual films is kind of a challenge, considering there can’t be
many who haven’t seen them (and probably plenty like me who know them by
heart). But the release of the
saga is arguably the biggest event in the brief history of Blu-ray, so I have to
try.
No…try
not; do or do not. There is no try.
“That’s no
moon…it’s a space station…”
The
Star Wars saga begins with a galaxy in turmoil.
An evil empire has all but quashed freedom from star system to star
system. The only hope is a ragtag
rebellion led by Princess Leia Organa (Fisher), but she falls prisoner to the
dark lord Darth Vader (Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones).
Her only hope is two droids, C-3PO (Daniels) and R2-D2 (Baker), who carry
her message of distress and top secret plans to an aged Jedi Knight named
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness). But the
droids first fall into the possession of a moisture farmer on the arid planet of
Tatooine, and his restless nephew Luke Skywalker (Hamill).
Luke
and Obi-Wan meet up with a renegade pilot and smuggler called Han Solo (Ford)
and his furry Wookie companion Chewbacca (Mayhew) and pay him for transport, but
the heroes soon stumble upon the Empire’s greatest secret:
the Death Star, a gigantic space station with weaponry that can destroy
entire planets. They find
themselves prisoners of the Death Star, but Luke has other ideas…namely
rescuing the Princess, escaping, and returning with the station’s plans to the
rebel base so they can do battle against the Empire.
But first, Obi-Wan has unfinished business with his one-time apprentice,
Vader…
This
was the movie spectacle that defined a decade.
The climactic battle in and around the Death Star took audiences faster
and more into the action than anything they had seen before.
The visual and audio effects marked the beginning of a new era in cinema
technology. And John Williams’
Wagner-esque score would become one of the most recognizable themes in movie
history.
The
picture not only set worldwide box office records and raked in millions more in
merchandising cash, it earned critical praise as well, and even scored an
impressive seven wins on Oscar night.
But the death knell of the Death Star wasn’t the ending of the
story…not by a long shot.
“I
don’t believe it.”
“That
is why you fail.”
With
The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas stepped back from the director’s
chair in favor of Irvin Kershner while still maintaining a strong sense of
control over his vision. And he
ended up accomplishing the unthinkable…he made a sequel even better than an
already great original.
With
Darth Vader and the Empire more determined than ever to crush the rebellion,
they take the fight to the secret rebel base on the ice planet Hoth (a
spectacular battle with giant walkers). The
survivors take flight after a crushing defeat.
Luke, following the advice of the apparition of Obi-Wan, travels to the
Dagobah system to seek the legendary Jedi Master Yoda (voiced and puppeted by
Frank Oz). Meanwhile, Han, Leia,
Chewbacca and the droids risk a dangerous getaway through an asteroid belt to
meet up with Han’s old companion Lando Calrissian (Williams).
But
all is not well. The Empire wants
Luke, and have rigged a trap for him using his friends as bait.
Luke abandons his Jedi training to finally confront Vader face to face,
only to find Vader holding a card over him that he could have never imagined.
I can still remember the chills in my spine, my hairs standing on end, my
eyes widening and the color draining from my face when I heard those immortal
words for the first time:
“I
AM YOUR FATHER.”
And
for Star Wars fans, it became the most pivotal moment of all the movies
combined.
Empire
is the best
of the lot easily…true, there’s still one picture left to come out, but
I’m wagering it won’t dethrone the movie that fans universally claim as
their favorite. It was an honest
second installment of a trilogy: it
took the story forward with a darker sense of purpose, and it left fans
wondering just what would be the outcome of it all.
It would again be a three year wait to learn the answer.
“I can’t
leave you…I’ve got to save you!”
“You
already have.”
Return
of the Jedi, under
the direction of Richard Marquand, brought Lucas’ original trilogy to a
mostly satisfying conclusion. Story
threads that had been woven since A New Hope were finally completing
their picture. Luke and Vader would
finally square off not as merely enemies, but as father and son.
The Emperor’s (McDiarmid) evil design would be realized.
Oh yes, and the Star Wars universe would also be overrun by
gibbering teddy bears.
Those
cuddly rascals called Ewoks were always a little too precious to be in a Star
Wars movie to my way of thinking, but in hindsight, I’d rather Lucas had
brought them back in Episode I in place of Jar-Jar Binks.
They were furry and primitive, yet managed to help our intrepid heroes in
their efforts to knock out the Empire’s shield generator on the forest planet
of Endor so that the rebels could try to destroy the Empire’s new in-progress
Death Star.
The
cutesy-cutesy factor notwithstanding, the real meat of the final installment was
Luke having to face down the evil and powerful Emperor and his plans to turn the
son to the Dark Side of the Force just as he had done the father.
Not only did the future of the rebellion hang in the balance, but so did
Luke’s last chance to redeem his father, who had fallen a long way from the
once promising Jedi Anakin Skywalker into the villainous machine-like Darth
Vader.
All
good things must come to an end, but of course, the genius of Lucas was that it
didn’t really…he left room to go back to the beginning and start all over
again, which he would do some 16 years after the fact.
The new Star Wars entries have been welcomed by fans, but I
don’t think anything will replace the experience of the original Star Wars
Trilogy. They were the films
that created the new myths and advanced the scientific art of motion picture
making to a new level, and as such, they will always serve as distinct bookmarks
in the history of cinema.
Still, the story continues...or in this case, begins...
Episode I: The Phantom Menace ***
“Fear
is the path to the Dark Side. Fear
leads to anger. Anger leads to
hate. Hate leads to suffering.
I
sense much fear in you…”
Sixteen
years later after it officially ended, the saga begins…
When
Star Wars first flickered on movie screens across the world in 1977,
George Lucas had always planned to go back to the beginning and tell the story
of how it all started…the Jedi Knights in their heyday, the birth of Luke and
Leia, the evolution of the Empire, and of course, the most intriguing aspect of
all, how a good young Jedi named Anakin Skywalker gets seduced by the Dark Side
of the Force to become Darth Vadar.
The
long-awaited Episode One finally came to be in 1999, drawing huge box
office numbers worldwide but decidedly mixed reviews. George Lucas, master of fantasy that he is, imagined and
created worlds the likes of which had never been viewed on a screen before.
But his storytelling, once the heart of his beloved films, seemed to take
a bit of a back seat.
I
like the film well enough, myself…it has its flaws, to be sure, but overall,
it works as pure escapist entertainment. I
liken it to a big junk sculpture: sometimes,
it seems as though Lucas assembled his movie with scrap material and throwaway
pieces, but managed to put them together in such a way as to make an interesting
and amusing new creation out of it. It
works as long as you stay back and view it as a whole.
If you start looking too closely, all you see is the junk.
Cardboard
characters were kind of a staple of the first trilogy, so the fact that they
exist here isn’t much of a bother to me.
At least there are some worthwhile actors to flesh them out on screen.
Liam Neeson has long been a favorite of mine, and he brings a strength
and quiet dignity to the role of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn.
Equally impressive is Ewan McGregor, faced with the difficult task of
realizing the young version of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
In speech and mannerisms, he really does remind one of a young Alec
Guinness, and what at first seemed to be odd casting for an edgy independent
cinema actor turned out to be a perfect choice.
In
the midrange is the usually good Natalie Portman. As Queen Amidala, she is buried under too much funky make-up
and weird hair to project, and as Padme, she is trying to build on a watery
foundation. Knowing the basic path
of the future story, one can only assume that her best work in this series is
still ahead.
And
I hate to be critical of little kids, but Jake Lloyd as young Anakin is just
another in a never-ending parade of cute but unqualified child actors that has
been coming out of Hollywood for decades. Lucas
settled for far too little with his blossoming character here, so I don’t
entirely fault Lloyd. But neither
can I fully overlook that certain scenes with him just don’t work well at all.
As
for Jar Jar Binks, the first completely CGI rendered character in a “real”
movie, the bad sentiments have already been far, wide and famous.
This was perhaps Lucas’ most gross miscalculation.
The best I can say about him is that, having seen the picture three times
now, I think he gets slightly less annoying each time.
I don’t think I’ll ever like him, but I haven’t given up hope that
by the time I’ve seen Episode One as many times as I’ve seen the
original Star Wars, I’ll be able to simply ignore him.
For
the epic’s beginning, Lucas seems to be following the old analogy about
dropping a small pebble into a big pond…the tiny ripples eventually disrupt
the entire calm of the water. He
starts with a planet, Naboo, and a Federation trying to force it into treaty.
A seemingly small event, to be sure, but this humble beginning would
eventually lead to the fall of the Galactic Republic and the birth of the
Empire…but that’s getting too far ahead.
The
strength and the problem of Episode One is its dependence on the greater
whole. To accept it as merely the
beginning of a much larger story is to appreciate it a little more, I
think…but mere beginnings by themselves don’t necessarily amount to much.
Imagine, if you will, somebody filming ONLY the first one-sixth of Moby
Dick. What you would see on
screen could never be as impressive as what you know will come later.
Yet
for all its difficulties, Episode One has merit.
It’s one of the most visually striking and imaginative films I’ve
ever seen, creating astonishing new worlds and landscapes for its story and
characters. The underwater city (as
well as the subsequent journey to Naboo) is a jaw dropping sequence, and it’s
only the beginning. The now-legendary pod race sequence is a thrill ride, and the
final battle with its cross-cutting between three plains of action is a worthy
climax. And through it all, the
story Lucas wanted to tell does get told…how young Anakin goes from slave
child to Jedi apprentice.
Certain
scenes still require some fan imagination for impact, though.
How about when Anakin meets Obi-Wan for the first time?
It’s treated almost as nothing…my God, some forty years later, the
younger is going to kill the elder!
But
there is foreshadowing in other places. Jedi
Master Yoda senses something wrong with the boy when they first meet.
“Clouded, his future seems,” he intones.
(Vague, his worries are.) But
we all know what happens, don’t we?
Nevertheless,
in the end, I have to say I enjoy Episode One, both at face value and as
part of a greater sum, despite some flagrant flaws. Ultimately, it’s a film just for the Star Wars fans,
and there are certainly enough of us out there that helped make it work.
Episode II: Attack of the Clones ***
“It’s all Obi-Wan's fault…he’s holding me back!”
Episode
II picks up ten years after the events of Episode I.
Anakin Skywalker, now played by the dreamy eyed and definitely handsome
Hayden Christensen, is a Jedi Knight in training, under the watchful eye of Jedi
Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin is a headstrong, arrogant, yet extremely talented
Padawan Learner. Obi-Wan thinks he’s still too rough around the edges, but
Anakin thinks it’s time for the trials, and his promotion to Jedi Knight! Ewan
McGregor shines brilliantly as Obi-Wan in this episode.
He has the perfect balance of intensity and heroism that makes you
understand why George Lucas picked him to play the younger version of old Ben!
Natalie Portman is back as the beautiful and politically
correct Padme Amidala. This go
round, Padme has traded in her Queenly regalia for Senatorial robes.
Don’t let that worry you Portman fans too much though, because she’s
still got more costumes than Liberace and more hairdos than Cher could ever
dream of! We got to see Leia’s
abs of steel in Return Of The Jedi and Padme shows us all at the end of Episode
II that they definitely run in the family.
The main focus of this episode was to establish a bridge
between the sweet innocent Anakin we were introduced to in the first film to the
rash young man that seems to be teetering on the edge of darkness (insert
ominous Vader breath here)! George
also had to incorporate the love story of Anakin and Padme as well as bring more
fully into focus the political intrigue surrounding the start of the Clone Wars.
I think he was able to pull this off in a very nice way without it
seeming to dwell too long on any one thing.
I would have preferred it if the powers that be had chosen to group the
sections of the movie pertaining to the love story a little closer together
because it’s mentally very hard to go from Obi-Wan blasting through an
asteroid field to Anakin and Padme rolling around on the grass giggling.
We get to see Shaft himself, the great Samuel L.
Jackson, working that purple lightsaber of his this go round, and he definitely
shows us all how to get a-HEAD in the world they live in.
As for Count Dooku (or is it Lord Tyranus?)…well, either personality
will do as long as it’s Christopher Lee behind the dialogue.
He definitely proves that an older ex-Jedi knows how to light up the
stage, when given the proper materials to work with.
Last and certainly not least (well, unless your talking
about height, that is), we have the new and improved digital YODA DA MAN!
Ever since Empire Strikes Back I have wondered what it was about
Yoda that was so great. He’s just
a tiny little green guy running around a swamp talking in riddles, or so I
thought. My whole perception of the amazing creature that is the
Master of all Jedi exploded before my eyes as I saw what the marvels of modern,
technology, can do for a three foot tall, green guy with a lightsaber!
There really is no way of explaining why Yoda is now my all time favorite
action star, except to say…YODA DA MAN!!!!!
The story this time around was a bit better as all the
characters seemed to balance out against each in a more realistic way.
We get to see a little more into the heart of Anakin as he wages a war
with himself over the two women in his life and the father figure he fears will
never let him prove himself. Christensen
goes a long way in proving George was right for choosing him to play this part
when he morphs his character from the sweet and charming Anakin into a
Vaderesque madman to wipe out and entire camp of Tusken Raiders.
We get to see Boba’s beginnings and a bounty hunter get his due. There’s action, intrigue, suspense, and technological advancements that I have never seen paralleled. R2-D2 and C3PO provide the comic relief this time out, and you start to get that old familiar Star Wars feeling after you’ve viewed this movie.
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith ***
"Anakin...I'm
afraid."
"Have
faith, my love...everything will soon be set right."
It
took a long time to get here...most of my life, as a matter of fact...but at
long last, George Lucas' extraordinary vision is complete.
Star
Wars: Episode III finally grants us fans what we've wanted to see for decades:
mainly, how a promising young Jedi Knight named Anakin Skywalker falls
from grace to become Darth Vader, the darkest of all intergalactic villains.
The first two episodes were merely prologue; Revenge of the Sith is
the chapter that really delivers.
Since
we last left the story, the Clone Wars have been fought and are ending (see the
two animated volumes from Fox for that story, if you wish).
Anakin (Christensen) has grown more powerful under the close tutelage of
Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor), and the watchful eye of Chancellor Palpatine (McDiarmid).
In the opening stretch, the two Jedis stage a rescue of Palpatine from
Count Dooku (Lee). Anakin is the
hero, but it's only the beginning of his troubles.
He
remains secretly married to Padme Amidala (Portman), and she has news:
she's pregnant. But instead of happiness, it brings Anakin a new set of
nightmares: dreams of Padme's death
in childbirth. The last time he had
such dreams, they were about the death of his mother...and that time, he had not
been able to save her.
While
the Chancellor grows more and more powerful within the Galactic Senate, he also
begins to turn Anakin's fears to his own advantage. There is more to the Force than what the Jedi teach.
With the powers of the Dark Side, he muses, anything is possible.
Even unnatural things.
Call
it the Last Temptation of Anakin. His
fears of losing his love make him susceptible to the Chancellor's suggestions,
while the Jedi Council, led by Yoda (voiced by Oz) and Mace Windu (Jackson)
begin to trust him less and less. With
the fate of the Republic in the balance, Anakin has to choose sides.
And I'm sure every fan realizes what choice he makes.
The
main points of the story were known by fans even before viewing the third
installment, but there are still surprises in store. Though the end destination is known, the real pleasure of the
film is the journey. For about the
first hour, I was actually wondering if we were going to get the full effective
payoff we'd been imagining. There
are large but empty action sequences in which Lucas fills his screen with so
many images that it's hard to know where to look.
And some of the dialogue between Anakin and Padme still borders on
painfully banal.
But
there is a turning point at about the hour and ten minute mark.
Suddenly, the tone turns to something darker than ever seen in a Star
Wars film before (hence the PG-13 rating).
We witness Anakin getting closer and closer to his destiny, and we
finally see the point of no return. I
wouldn't dream of disclosing it, but I can say there is a definite moment when
we know this once good, promising hero is irretrievably lost.
The
climactic scene in which Obi-Wan and Anakin face off as enemies is one of the
most thrilling sequences in the entire saga.
Set against the background of a volcanic planet, and fueled by Anakin's
newfound hatred, the battle is exciting and haunting at the same time.
And it's juxtaposed against another spectacular battle:
the sprightly Yoda against the man who would be Emperor.
There
is a great sense of finality to Episode III, even though fans know from
here we return to the beginning and start again. Lucas has given us a circle in perpetual motion; a story that
folds in on itself and opens up again. This
may now be the darkest installment in the series, but it ends with a glimmer of
hope that we know isn't false. The
children in the movie, as in life, are the future.
This is where it gets fun...these movies look as good as hoped for on Blu-ray, and even better than that. I almost had tears when I saw the original film fire up in high definition glory...the details and crispness of the images and the brightness of the colors was more than I dreamed. And it gets better...by the time you reach the second and third episodes, which were filmed digitally, you get a pure digital-to-digital transfer that is just about beyond anything you've seen in the medium. Trust me...this is a surefire winner.
If the video quality is breathtaking, wait until you hear the sounds of John Williams' classic score in full HD surround glory...I mean, the orchestration is impeccable. You can hear the individual symphonic instruments...amazing! But of course, the saga offers more than just the great music. The dynamic range and use of surrounds is definitely one of the most striking I've had the pleasure of hearing. You'll be right in the middle of space travel, light saber duels, laser battles and more. Everything is well balanced and POWERFUL!
Each
disc of the original trilogy has an audio commentary with George Lucas and crew
members which are all enjoyable listens.
Can you believe we finally get to see the trilogy with Lucas commentary?
Fantastic!
The three remaining discs have the remainder of the bonus materials. “Empire of Dreams” is one of the best and most comprehensive (2 ½ hours) documentaries ever made for home video. It chronicles all of the trilogy with plenty of archival footage and new interviews with cast and crew. Three additional featurettes showcase “The Birth of the Lightsaber”, “The Characters of Star Wars” and the legacy.
There
are three bits focusing on the Battlefront video games, plus teaser, trailer and
re-launch trailers for each episode, and loads of TV spots.
The 1997 Special Edition trailer is included as well.
Most interesting of the lot is the teaser for Episode VI, which
still showed it as Revenge of the Jedi!
Rounding
out are some cool animated menus on all discs.
George Lucas always manages to get his fans to wait for the goods, but when he delivers, he always makes it worthwhile. Star Wars: The Complete Saga rounds out his vision in the most perfect way possible on a stellar quality Blu-ray set. I only hope he sees to release the unaltered original trilogy in high definition as well, but until then, hang on to those DVDs.
